Washington (CNN) The Republican National Committee distanced itself Tuesday from a tweet issued by the committee's new media director, Todd Herman, which questioned whether President Obama himself is part of the 20 percent of the country that believes he is a Muslim.

"Watch – Is @BarackObama amongst the 20% who think he's Muslim?" Herman tweeted on Friday. The message included a link to an interview taped during the 2008 campaign in which Obama stumbled while explaining his religious views.

First reported Tuesday by Politico, the tweet prompted the RNC to make clear that President Obama's Christian faith is "crystal clear" and that the tweet was sarcastic in nature.